State of Hockey Well-Represented in NCAAs
The State of Hockey is not just a moniker. Four of the 16 schools represented in this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament are from the state of Minnesota.
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Minnesota State-Mankato earned the tournament’s number one overall seed based off of their excellent regular season. The Mavericks won the MacNaughton Cup by virtue of their regular season WCHA title. Speaking of the WCHA, eight of the 16 teams in the tourney are from the last season of the WCHA before the formation of the Big Ten Hockey Conference forced realignment. Pretty incredible. The Mavericks will be taking on the Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday.
The current conference with the most teams involved in the tournament is the NCHC. A remarkable six of the eight member schools will be in the NCAAs. This includes the UMD Bulldogs, who are the number 2 seed in the Northeast Regional. They will take on the Minnesota Gophers on Friday at 4:30 on ESPNU. The Gophers are the Big 10’s only representative in the NCAA Tournament.
It should be a good game. This will be the fifth matchup between the rivals this season. The Bulldogs are 3-1 in the first four meetings. The Gophers won the season’s opening game in the Notre Dame Tournament but the Bulldogs won the next three. All but the game at Mariucci Arena came right down to the wire, so I expect a close game but a Bulldogs win. I’ve made no secret around these parts that I am a Bulldogs fan from Duluth, so that is where my allegiances and predictions lie. The Bulldogs have been hampered by injuries and illness as of late but will be full strength on Friday.
After a slow start to the season, the St. Cloud State Huskies also played their way into the NCAA Tournament. They won their way all the way into the NCHC title game at the Target Center before falling to the Miami Redhawks 3-2. The Huskies take on former WCHA foe Michigan Tech on Friday at 4:30.
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The field is very deep but without any clear-cut favorites. The Bulldogs will be vying for their second National Championship. They won their first in 2011. The Gophers will be shooting for their sixth overall and first since 2003. Minnesota State-Mankato won the National Championship in (the now defunct) Division II in 1980 but this would be their first at the Division I level. St. Cloud State is searching for their first ever national title.
It would not be a surprise at all to see the National Championship trophy make its way back to the State of Hockey. It should be a great tournament; The action gets underway on Friday.
Apr 12, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Minnesota Gophers forward Hudson Fasching (24) shoots as Union Dutchmen forward Nick Cruice (8) defends during the first period in the championship game of the Frozen Four college ice hockey tournament at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports